War in Ukraine wreaks havoc on surrogate families

Ukraine’s relaxed surrogacy laws means the nation is a popular choice for hopeful families

Bombardment, shelling and missiles have become a daily part of life in Ukraine, as the conflict recently entered its fourth month.

Russia says the mission is a “special military operation”. But over 4,000 civilians have lost their lives, including over 200 children.

The ongoing conflict has become a nightmare for surrogates in the war-torn country, and hopeful parents watching on.

Ukraine’s relaxed surrogacy laws allow over 2,000 babies to be born in the country each year.

Emma Micallif is an Australian who turned to Ukraine, where she matched with Svetlana to birth her second child.

But when Russian tanks rolled across the border, everything changed.

Svetlana was living in fear, as air raid sirens kept her awake for days on end. On the other side of the world, Emma was also anxious for her unborn child.

Emma diagnosed with cervical cancer 32 weeks into her pregnancy with her first child, Felix.

For six months Emma’s surrogacy operation ran smoothly, until Russian forces entered their neighbouring country on 24 February.

Emma, and two other couples arranged a bus to evacuate three surrogates and their 10 children to Moldova.

It was a moment of bittersweet relief, the surrogates were safe, but the nation’s strict surrogacy laws were far from ideal.

Others have been forced to watch the crisis from across the globe, with no way of knowing where their child is, or if they are safe.

Why are people turning to Ukraine for surrogacy?

Commercial surrogacy has been a legal practice for over 20 years in Ukraine.

Dr. Ronli Sifris is an expert in women’s reproductive health and law at Monash University, who says some local laws are restrictive, which is pushing parents to look elsewhere.

Ukraine allows the future parents to be listed on the child’s birth certificate rather than the surrogate.

This means the child’s intended parents are listed as official guardians under Ukrainian law.

Surrogacy is not a cheap operation in Ukraine. Someone may expect to pay up to USD $40,000 for the service.

But this is a fraction of the USD $150,000 it might cost to use a surrogate in the U.S.

In many countries, like Australia for example, commercial surrogacy is still illegal.

If a family does find someone to carry their child, the intended parents are not recognised as the legal parents at birth.

When Svetlana and the other surrogates arrived in the Moldovan capital, Chișinău, they were forced into a small apartment with few beds.

Svetlana was pregnant and sleeping on the floor.

Her husband was left in Ukraine and her mother was evacuated to Germany—a sign of her own family falling apart as she was bringing hope for another.

Is it time to change surrogacy laws?

Surrogate in Ukraine who are holding babies for British families have recently become eligible for special visa, which last for three years.

Dr. Sifris says the conflict has highlighted the importance of cross-border pregnancy, and should be the catalyst for changing surrogacy laws.

“The anxiety around legalising and regulating compensated surrogacy in Australia does not make sense.”

“Australia’s legal system has the capability to do this, and in doing so, would minimise the risk of exploitation,” she says.

Nurses like Oksana Martynenko are raising their hands to help with the wartime labour effort, until surrogacy laws are changed abroad.

“We look after them, we cannot leave them behind. How could that be possible? They’re tiny creatures,” she says.

Martynenko and her colleagues have a steady flow of surrogate babies at a makeshift clinic on the outskirts of Kyiv.

The children will remain at the facility until their parents collect them.